It’s sad, really
From the same show, a small section of a Wall o’ Guns. As you might imagine, these are mostly replicas and functionally destroyed guns.
But not all. There are some tiny loopholes for muzzle-loading firearms and guns of no longer manufactured calibers, and he had a few. No longer manufactured here. Ahem.
This man does the leatherwork and was principally showing off that, and very nice it was, too. But you could tell he loved his pistoles.
And yes, if you’ve read about the MASSIVE KILLER HEAT WAVE, it’s been warm. Today was the hottest, in the mid-nineties hereabouts. That is indeed very hot for here. But now we’re having a violent thunderstorm to blow it all away and it will be back in the low seventies tomorrow.
We may very well lose our internets. Fair warning.
July 25, 2019 — 7:44 pm
Comments: 6
Well and truly cheezed off
I make that seven kilos — 15 pounds — of redcurrants that I picked yesterday. We tried to make jelly from two K of that.
When I googled it, I got a gazillion recipes, and absolutely no two were alike. I picked one, and I can say with confidence that…you absolutely cannot add the sugar BEFORE you strain the fruit through the muslin.
That was a lot of effort for nothing.
Does anybody want a five pound sweet gushy pink mucilage booger?
July 23, 2019 — 10:24 pm
Comments: 7
What do I do with a bucket of redcurrants?
Behold! I have picked redcurrants! I haven’t weighed them yet, but I reckon I have ten pounds of the little buggars.
Did you know (because I didn’t) that growing currants was illegal in many places in the States until recently? Article says black currants, but I’m not sure if it’s just black currants. It was believed to harbor a fungus dangerous to trees (also gooseberries, for a similar reason).
That explains why blackcurrant is such a common flavor here for juice drinks and candies and so on and not a common flavor back home.
Red currant is most commonly used here to make a jelly that is served with lamb. We don’t eat lamb.
I’m going to have a thunk. They’re nice. A bit sharp, but still edible raw. I found one recipe that said to poach them for four minutes, then sprinkle them with sugar and serve them with cream.
Ideas?
Don’t even mention the freezer. Our freezers are full of last year’s red currants.
July 22, 2019 — 9:32 pm
Comments: 10
Dead Pool Easy as 123
Two hours late! Dangit, I’m sorry!
Gebrauchshund won the dick with Denise Nickerson, better known as the actress who played Violet Beauregarde. I only saw it just before usual Dead Pool Posting time last week, so no pool then.
I’ll spare you the snappy patter and get right to it.
On your mark! Get set! Type “Ruth Bader Ginsberg” like the wind!
0. Rule Zero (AKA Steve’s Rule): your pick has to be living when picked. Also, nobody whose execution date is circled on the calendar. Also, please don’t kill anybody. Plus (Pupster’s Rule) no picking someone who’s only famous for being the oldest person alive.
1. Pick a celebrity. Any celebrity — though I reserve the right to nix picks I never heard of (I don’t generally follow the Dead Pool threads carefully, so if you’re unsure of your pick, call it to my attention).
2. We start from scratch every time. No matter who you had last time, or who you may have called between rounds, you have to turn up on this very thread and stake your claim.
3. Poaching and other dirty tricks positively encouraged.
4. Your first choice sticks. Don’t just blurt something out, m’kay? Also, make sure you have a correct spelling of your choice somewhere in your comment. These threads get longish and I use search to figure out if we have a winner.
5. It’s up to you to search the thread and make sure your choice is unique. I’m waayyyy too lazy to catch the dupes. Popular picks go fast.
6. The pool stays open until somebody on the list dies. Feel free to jump in any time. Noobs, strangers, drive-bys and one-comment-wonders — all are welcome.
7. If you want your fabulous prize, you have to entrust me with a mailing address. If you’ve won before, send me your address again. I don’t keep good records.
8. The new DeadPool will begin 6pm WBT (Weasel’s Blog Time) the Friday after the last round is concluded.
The winner, if the winner chooses to entrust me with a mailing address, will receive an Official Certificate of Dick Winning and a small original drawing on paper suffused with elephant shit particles. Because I’m fresh out of fairy shit particles.
July 19, 2019 — 8:00 pm
Comments: 72
Was I supposed to queue up a Dead Pool? I feel like I was supposed to queue up a Dead Pool
Oh, shit, you guys — I was! The last win came in too late to set one up last Friday. Man, I knew there was something.
I’ll go set it up now. I will schedule it to post on the hour.
Right! How fast can YOU type Ruth Bader Ginsberg?
— 7:40 pm
Comments: 4
Gosh, is it Flying Ant Day again already?
One day only! Sexy flying ants!
No seriously, they can only fly one day a year. Then their wings drop off and they die. But, hey, first they get the biggest 24-hour orgy in all of insectitude!
I’ve posted about this before (photo: mine). Contrary to legend, it doesn’t happen on the same day all over Britain, but it tends to be a muggy day toward the end of July. Like what this is.
I haven’t seen any in East Sussex yet, but they’ve shown up in West Sussex. In fact, they’re showing up on radar in West Sussex. The Met Office thought it was rain at first, but they knew it was dry all along the South coast.
Do follow the link and see the radar (but be warned, it opens a Tweet).
July 18, 2019 — 8:32 pm
Comments: 5
Salad days
It ain’t all gooseberries: sometimes it’s garden produce without a deep personal vendetta.
Grown in a pot, these were. Already cut up, fermented and ready to eat now.
It’s a shame food looks so awful in black and white. Uncle B takes nice photos and grows nice carrots.
July 17, 2019 — 8:31 pm
Comments: 9
Nemesis
The gooseberry.
Not only is the gooseberry bush covered in wicked evil spikes, but every individual gooseberry then needs to be ‘topped and tailed’ — have its end bits snipped off before freezing. To add insult to injury, I don’t even like fruit.
Okay. Well. Uncle B’s gooseberry crumble is rather nice on a cold Winter afternoon, but that’s a long way off.
One of the gooseberry bushes died this year (I didn’t pee on it, I swear! Remember the wicked evil spikes?), so it was only three pounds. I think it was eight last year. So there’s that, I guess.
Also, there’s a lunar eclipse tonight, but it’s all clouded over.
Today has been a day of off-pissery. You?
July 16, 2019 — 9:28 pm
Comments: 8
Why does this picture make me so sad?
Wave goodbye, y’all.
Once Voyager 1’s primary mission was over and its camera was to be shuttered for good, Carl Sagan and a few other teammates requested one last image. On Valentine’s Day, 1990, Voyager did an about-face to look back toward Earth. Hidden within these colorful bands of sunlight is our planet. Look all the way to the right, you’ll see a tiny dot. That’s us.
(The picture is from NASA and NASA is cool about that sort of thing).
It’s from Wired’s Space Photos of the Week. Links being stoopit, clicking it probably won’t take you directly to this page, but all of them are worth looking at.
July 15, 2019 — 9:18 pm
Comments: 9
Let us end this week on a chicken
This lovely little bird is seven weeks old, and I’m going nuts trying to assume its gender. I’ve been looking at chicken baby pictures for days. The comb and wattles are bigger than my previous chickens that grew up to be hens, but smaller than the ones that grew up to be roosters.
Please send all your gendered thoughts at this little beast, as it is a very sweet chick and I would like to keep it.
I spent a lovely sunny afternoon in the garden with my flock and I’m as happy as I can be prior to Gin Hour. Which is nigh upon us.
Last night, Gebrauchshund noticed that Denise Nickerson, the actress who played Violet Beauregarde in “Willy Wonka” had been taken off life support but was not yet defunct. He decided to play the classic DP sneaky gambit and choose her. This morning, she died. I am inclined to take that as a win — who doesn’t remember Violet Beauregarde? It is, however, too late for this week. So NEXT FRIDAY, Dead Pool Round 123.
July 12, 2019 — 8:33 pm
Comments: 13